Return
by Believe24
Summary: Oliver is released from prison after five years. He soon realizes how much can change in that amount of time. He was arrested before making things right with Felicity, all he wants now, is to know that it's not too late. But when he finally confronts her, she doesn't seem to be alone in her house. Olicity x future fic
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Arrow, DC comics, or its characters. The story is my own but rights to the characters are reserved with their creators.**

The smell of third street hadn't changed that much in five years. It still smelled like smoke and cooking meat. Ah what a sweet smell, it smelled like freedom, but to Oliver, everything now did. That day, December 8, 2021, was the day Oliver Queen was released from prison after five years. What a day it was. The first snow of the year had fallen the night before, he had watched as he'd packed his things out of Iron Heights to leave the next day. And now was the day. He was finally free.

He went through the streets in his newly bought tan colored winter coat and hat to cover his face. His release trial had been one of the most public in Star City's history, but his actual release date had remained a secret. Now the only people who knew were the Judge, guards, his cell mate, and the guy at the thrift store he'd bought his coat from. He was a nobody, a faceless man with a promise to uphold. There were so many people to see, and seemingly so little time. He just couldn't believe they had let him out. After he had been charged for the third time for vigilante crimes, he was finally convicted for what seemed for life. When the case was reopened eight months ago he was surprised, and even more so when he won and was granted limited freedoms into the real world again. He had an ankle monitor and such, but he was used to such supervision; besides, his crime fighting days were over. Now was just the time to get back to real life.

His head said to go see Thea, but his heart told him to go somewhere else.

He turned the corner onto Nathan Street and he froze. This place... This was where it happened. On December 2nd, 2016 he had been caught by the police in the middle of the street and unmasked as the Green arrow. Sure, Captain Lance had known and was even given an apology by the commissioner for not believing him, but Quentin was just as broken up about the discovery as anyone. He had just begun to understand what Oliver was fighting for, but he alas couldn't fight this conviction again. He was out of cards to play. The trial was short, the evidence was literally on his face and he was charged with the murders of the Arrow and the crimes of the Green Arrow after a guilty plea by life in prison but not death with convincing my Captain Lance and the good he had done. It wasn't that people wanted him behind bars, it was just the law.

On Nathan Street that rainy night was where his life ended, and after he spent yet another five years in hell among the people he had put away. Thirty men the green arrow had sent there were now locked in a concrete holding pen with Oliver and none were going to miss the opportunity for some payback. How sweet it was. Oliver walked out of Iron Heights with a total of 352 stitches from multiple assaults and 42 new scars. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that only Thea was granted clearance to visit him for those five years, and for eight months prior to his conviction he hadn't talked or even seen Felicity. He rarely slept, even went clinically insane a few times from it. He was nearly sent to Arkham once but he pulled it together in time.

All these memories brought up from one little street. It was important to him.

Before long Oliver hailed a taxi, his fingers too numb to walk outside anymore. "Where to?" the driver in a black hat asked him. Without speaking, Oliver handed him a card with an address on it and signaled to start driving. His heart told him to go one way, his instincts another, and his gut said go to his family. Today he was going with instincts. He loved Thea and she said he was to go to her house as soon as he got out, but there was some other things he couldn't wait to do. There was so much to do after such a long time.

The windows were covered in salt from the streets, but Oliver could still see what was outside the tinted, dirty window. The Glades. He didn't think it was possible, but they actually looked worse! Trash littered the streets to the point where they seemed to be the street itself. Red and gray colors were prominent on every corner, the homeless blended into the background as if they were deliberately put there for scenery. The farther he looked down alleys, the angrier and more desperate the people looked. Although they were always bad, they were never "fifteen people crowded around a burning trash fire for warmth" bad. All in five years? When did the average citizen stop looking at needy people as people and more as pieces of trash that didn't make it into the bin? Eventually Oliver himself stopped looking and that disgusted him. Looking at the reality of things is how change starts, but the only way to start a change was with money, something Oliver was out of.

After twenty minutes of avoiding eye contact with the street, the screechy car finally halted at his destination. The taxi driver finally turned to Oliver requesting payment. Oliver saw him for the first time. He was a young black man, and against all odds he had a smile on his face as his held out his hand for the money. Oliver hated to admit it but he was planning on ducking out of the cab without paying. He was completely out of money and it wasn't like it would be the first time for the driver. But this kid, not a day over 22, he could't do it. Honestly he probably couldn't to anyone, but the guy had the kind of face that made you think it. With a sigh, Oliver reached to his left wrist and removed his watch.

"Here. I hope this will do." He said. His fathers watch... One of the only things he had left from back then. But he had gone five years without it when he was locked up, just getting it back that day. He could obviously live without it. Besides, the kid was living as a taxi driver in the Glades. He'd have better use out of it selling it and getting a few hundred bucks from it.

He gave it a strange look and then laughed. "Okay! Thanks man."

"Thank you-"

"Arthur, names Arthur."

"Thank you Arthur." Oliver stepped out of the car taking his last look at his fathers final gift to him. He shut the door behind him and took in what he saw. After all the years, the break ins, and the fires, the campaign office was still pretty well boarded up. It took a few kicks and pulls but eventually Oliver make it past the wood and into the doors. The lights didn't work but he knew where he needed to go. Although he had been discovered as the Arrow, the cops never did find his second Arrow cave under the campaign office. The elevator opened using its own power source Felicity had set it up with. Down it went, down to Oliver's past.

He was not expecting to see what he saw when the doors opened to the lair. The lights, after all this time were still on, some of them anyway, and the whole room was exactly as he left it. The computers were covered in plastic protectors and the whole area was covered with dust but those were the only things that kept it from looking as though it was frozen in time. Oliver took a small step in and for a moment he felt he was back to the good times, the best times. Felicity loved him and was going to marry him, the whole team was living the best they could and everyone was happy enough. Everything seemed to be good dare he say it. Then came the day that Felicity walked out on him. The first few steps she took out of the wheel chair were ones that led away from him. What was supposed to be a joyous moment became one of the worst of his life, what was worse is that she never came back. Annd he didn't go after her in time. The he was arrested and lost all hope of ever being able to see her again.

The room smelled like clean floors and chalk. It never smelled clean before. Oliver walked on the clean floors, up the ramp and onto the main platform, sitting down in what has referred to as "Felicity's chair". He inhaled at the discovery that the chair no longer smelled like her. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes listening to the silence of the once bustling room. Every one drifted so far apart from this place just leaving it behind. It was once the place that kept them together.

All of a sudden Oliver's eyes opened realizing something was on the table that wasn't there the last time he was there. When he wheeled close to the desk he saw that it was a photo of regular size. It was of Felicity, Diggle, Thea, and himself after a successful night of patrolling. Thea had made them take it and loved the picture. One of them must have printed it out after the arrest. He picked it up and closely examined the picture. He remembered the exact moment they had taken it. Felicity was in her chair so they all had bent down beside her, Oliver with his arm around her shoulders. Right before the camera snapped it Thea made a funny face and Felicity had closed her eyes to give Oliver a kiss on the cheek. That's what the camera captured, to him it was a perfect moment too. Everyone was so happy. He hung his head and arms low, letting the picture fall with his arm. Then he noticed something on the back side of it. Quickly he lifted it up and found writing on the back of it. It was Felicity's handwriting no less. That meant she had come back after his arrest. He thought she'd never come back.

 _Dedicated to Oliver Queen. The man that never let personal weaknesses_

 _overcome his complete loyalty to the ones he loved. Thank you for a_

 _wonderful few years Oliver. I miss you every day. Words neither_ _describe_

 _how much I love you, nor how grateful I am to have met you._

 _-Felicity._

The words on the page cut him deeper than any sword ever had. All these years he had assumed she never wanted to see him again _._ It turned out that even after all the terrible things he had made her go through, she had always still loved him. Maybe she was even planning on coming back. If he had known maybe things would be different now.

Not wasting another second, Oliver ran out of the abandoned building with the photo in hand out into the streets of the Glades. There was one person who would know where Felicity was after all this time, and he at least knew where to find him.

* * *

Two cab rides later and a visit to an ATM, Oliver found himself standing outside the door of a dear friends apartment. He knew they still lived there, their names were on the freaking door. For old times sake, he rang the bell rather than barging in as a surprise. He didn't want to get shot the first day he was free. A moment later a gasp was heard from the other side of the door followed by a woman with a whole lot of hair swinging her arms around Oliver with a joyous squeal. He didn't know Lyla even made that kind of sound. "Oliver! Oh my gosh. You're out? John, John! Come in here, It's important!" She yelled down the hall. Oliver embraced his best friends wife happily, glad to see her. She was the first woman he had hugged in 5 years, he didn't quite know what that meant, but it was an interesting thought. "We didn't know you were going to be released so soon! You should have called, we could have been more ready for you."

"Not necessary, Lyla. It's great to see you."

"Wow, you look so different." She said after letting him go. She started examining his face as well as everything skin wise that could be seen. "Your beard is awful." She joked. "But, oh my god, your arms!" She said noticing the many, many scars that now decorated them.

"Prison was fun." He replied with a smirk. Lyla didn't respond but didn't appreciate the statement.

"John! Where are you? You're moving like an old man!"

"I'm moving as fast as I can, what is so god damned important that-" The moment Diggle came out from down the hall he was speechless. He saw Oliver and his jaw dropped half way to the ground. He wasn't the only one. When he was revealed at the end of the hall, Oliver's heart sank. Not only that, but he felt part of himself die. Diggle hadn't walked down the hall into the living room, he'd rolled. Diggle was in a wheelchair. "Is that- Oliver? Crap man why didn't you tell us you were out already?" He asked excitedly, rolling himself to him with a gigantic grin on his face. Oliver leaned over to give him a hug, still staggered by the revelation he had just encountered.

"How..." He stopped himself. He didn't want the first thing he said to John, be a question about what terrible thing had happened to him, "have you been?" Oliver asked wiping away the confusion on his face and replacing it with a smile.

"I can't answer that in one word. It's been five years man! So much has happened."

"Tell me about it." He requested being led to the couch by Lyla. Suddenly finding Felicity took back seat to talking to his friend.

"Well, since ya been gone, I've been working at ARGUS, side by side with this lovely woman, Sara is in school getting some great grades, couldn't be prouder, I had another baby, and, well life hasn't been the same without you man." He shook his head.

"You have another kid?" Oliver smiled raising an eyebrow.

"John Connor. Almost a year and a half old. Loudest baby you'll ever hear. I'd introduce you but he and Sara are with their grandparents tonight." he had a look of pride as he took out his phone to show Oliver picture of his son.

"I can't wait to meet him." he said but he couldn't keep the charade up any longer, "John, please tell me this is a temporary thing." Oliver gestured at the wheelchair.

"I wish I could." He signed. "A year ago I was in the field with a task force trying to capture a dangerous terrorists who had made his way to Coast City. We thought it was just going to be one guy. Turned out to be twenty."

"Johnny and four other agents were hit with a bazooka blast followed by a rain of bullets to finish off the job. He and Peters lived but have permanent disabilities." Lyla finished.

"I'm so sorry John."

"It's the danger of the job man, any job. I could have been painting houses and fell off a roof. Could have had the same injuries. It's no ones fault but my own for the way I am now. I'm fine now, I've adapted, I have no more pain, I get to spend more time with my kids. It's all part of life." He smiled at him. Wiser words were never spoken in Oliver's eyes. It was amazing how much things had changed in just five years without him around.

They talked for two hours, laughing, drinking, eating boxes of the best pizza Oliver had ever had. Whether it was really or he just wasn't used to having real food he didn't know, but to him it tasted amazing. When the clock beside him read 2:32 am Oliver suddenly realized how quickly time had gone by.

"You guys I'm sorry, I lost track of the time. There's something I've been meaning to ask."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I need, need to find out where Felicity is these days. I haven't seen her or even heard from her in god knows how long." After this Lyla and Digg looked at each other for a long time. "What, do you not know where she is?"

"It's not that, it's... A lot of stuff has changed since the last time you spoke. I don't want you to get your hopes up." Diggle told him.

"That's not why I want to find her!"

"That's not what I meant! Look, here's her address and home number. Promise he you'll call before you go barging into her house like you did with us." Digg handed him the card. He studied it.

 _4592 Woodstone Way._

 _Upper East Star City._

Fancy neighborhood. Being the head of an international company still has its perks it seemed. "Thanks. And I would stay longer but I have a lot of things I want to do as soon as possible." Diggle was going to respond but he stopped, instead smiling at him and motioned towards the door. He understood Oliver had a lot of things he had to do.

Oliver pocketed the card and headed out into the cold once more. Even Diggle's street was starting to go to hell. Oliver didn't feel unsafe though, so he just started walking towards the center of the city where all thee tech businesses and international companies called home. On the other side of that was where Felicity now lived. It was too late to see her right then but he didn't want to go home to Thea who may force him to stay. Instead he decided to walk to the hub of the city and and take a cab from there. A three hour walk if he timed it right. That would land him at her house at a good time the next morning. Three hours, three hours to come up with something to say even though he had had five years. Unlike those years, he wasn't going to let this time go to waist. He still loved Felicity, it wasn't until the note on the back of the picture that he realized how important it was for him to tell her that.

 **Thank you so much for reading. I've had this idea in my head for about a year and this is the first time that I could get it down in a way that made sense. Let me know if you like it and if you want me to continue the story because I can go on forever. I hope you enjoyed the story and my writing style. There are more chapters if I get good feedback. Comment please they are very much appreciated. Follow and fav if you want.**


	2. Chapter 2

4592 Woodstone way

His scar still hurt when it was cold. One that he got in prison on the anterior side of his left arm made him flinch in pain whenever a cold breeze went by. Oliver got it his first month in prison, when one simple thug he had caught two years prior attacked him on his way to eat dinner. It pierced him so deep that it hit a nerve as well as scratching his radial bone. Whenever the temperature dropped the scar reacted with a twinge like eating ice cream with your two front teeth. That was why he hated standing out in the cold for too long now a days. He didn't really have a choice in the matter this time though. He ran out of money to pay fully for the cab two miles from Felicity's new residence.

With two miles to her house and twenty minutes till sunrise, Oliver had no doubt that he would be able to catch her before she went off to work if that. He felt a flutter in his chest with every intersection he reached. If he had ever though this moment would come he would have thought it'd been a lifetime. But the thing was, he never did think the moment would come. Felicity had left him an entire eight months and then he was sent to prison for life. The thought that she would ever come back had he not been arrested had never crossed his mind. He figured that if she was planning to come back she would have done it by then. Little did he know she had, even writing him about how much she still loved him. At the very least he owed it to himself to at least see if anything between them could be saved. In another few blocks he would find out.

A chill traveled half way across his body, up his spine and into his shoulders making him shake. Oliver was suddenly terrified of what he would find. He turned the corner onto Woodstone way and all of a sudden he was staring right at the house. He took a breath. It honestly wasn't where he expected a major CEO to live. It was a dark blue house, two stories, maybe three if there was a finished basement. It was a fairly big house with huge modern styled windows standing atop a hill. Well, the entire neighborhood was on a hill, the houses on the left were up on it and on the other side the driveways slanted down twenty feet below where the left houses stood. It was a modern neighborhood built in the sixties. Although the houses weren't necessarily huge, they were most likely expensive. Her front garden was on a forty degree slope filled with all sorts of exotic looking trees. It was perfectly kept probably by a gardener. And at the very front by the door were some orchids, out of place against the rest of the house but still beautiful.

This was it, it was 7:15, an appropriate time on week day. He was at her house as ready as he'd ever be to face her after all this time. The last conversation they had had face to face was about her needing space after rescuing Oliver's son. After that he called a few times and texted as well, they got into a fight about needing space and that was the last he heard from her. He wished that wasn't the case.

Oliver walked to the door hands in pockets to avoid the cold of the winter morning. He took a long hard stare at their doorbell not wanting to push it. What if he pressed it and she didn't answer? Or what if it was broken and she wouldn't know he pressed it? He ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. _Fuck itttt._ He thought eventually and knocked on the door louder than he expected. Suddenly his heart felt like it stopped. He had done it. This was it. He was at the point of no return. His head said run but he didn't have the heart to. All he could do now was wait, and pray that what he had just done wasn't the biggest mistake of his life. Ten seconds went by and the butterflies in his stomach started to calm. He for some reason was revealed to think that she was not home; perhaps deep down he didn't want to confront his demons. He would try again at night or perhaps the weekend. But then, he started hearing noises from inside the house. The butterflies in his stomach turned into tsunami force waves as he listened to the sound of feet on the ground walking down stairs. He felt panicked on the inside but kept his face calm on externally.

All of a sudden the knob on the door started turning, he thought it would take longer to open but in that same instant the door opened at a regular pace and the suddenly he as facing a woman who up until now had been nothing more than a ghost to him... Felicity. And there she was. A woman who had been lost to him for five long, lonely years. There she was, standing in her door frame in a black tube top and black leggings with her hair perfectly straight reaching down to her shoulder blades in the exact same glasses she had worn the day that they met. There she was, the best thing to ever happen to him. She looked exactly as he remembered her right up to the freckle on her left shoulder. But that wasn't the thing that immediately caught his eye. Yes, he did quickly notice that she looked like she just got out of bed or from working out, but the thing that was the most noticeable about her state was the bare expression on her face. He expected she would be shocked to see him, but the way she looked now, it looked as though she had suddenly gotten lost in time. Felicity didn't move or change faces for several seconds, before the gleam in her eyes started sparking from a tear that eventually rolled down her cheek. She hadn't thought he would ever get out of prison, let alone be at her front door. After what felt like a lifetime to Oliver, her hand slowly moved up to her mouth to hide her surprised expression as if he hadn't just been staring at it for the last minute and a half. And with that simple movement by her, time resumed.

" _Oh my god."_ She thought to herself, the words not able to actually be spoken besides a faint, very breathy noise. "Oliver..."

Suddenly Oliver had nothing on his mind. What was he supposed to do now? He had never thought that far ahead about it before. Or maybe he did, but the sight of Felicity in the flesh made him completely blank on what he was going to do or say. He met her eyes and his hart melted. Suddenly he knew even less. What was he supposed to say to the memory of a woman he loved? What was she supposed to say to a ghost? He knew he had to say something, she was able to get a word out, it was his turn now, no matter how small the word was. "Hi." He said. That word was literally the second smallest word he would have said besides I. Now what?

"Hi." She responded. That got them no where. It was his turn once again. It had to be something more than two words or he'd never be able to get to the point.

"I never thought I'd see you again. I'm so glad I was wrong." He said delicately. He didn't know how much he could get away with so he decided not not express his true emotions. He took a step forward though, and was torn when she took a step back.

"Oliver..." She said moving farther into her house. "I don't know what to say." Part of her wanted to cry although she didn't know if that was good or bad, and the other part of her wanted to have her embrace her and never let go. But she wouldn't grant herself either or those courtesies.

"Say how you've been." He told her.

"I'm sure my life these past years is far less exciting than what you have been up to." She remarked trying to release a smile. Oliver noticed the way she was standing. Her legs were together, her hair partially in her face, and her arms were crossed holding her body. That meant she was beyond nervous.

"It's been rough, but seeing you reminds me why I'm happy to be alive again. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm happy to see you, and I'm sorry that I couldn't make things right before. I want to change that." He extended his hand to touch her shoulder not with any intent besides sympathetic contact, but once again she recoiled.

"I'm sorry too. By the time I realized how much you meant to me it was too late."

He smiled, "It's never too late." Felicity unwrapped her arm from her side to remove some hair from her face, in doing so revealing her left hand. Oliver's heart skipped a beat when he noticed a piece of jewelry on her ring finger. Oliver peered inside her home looking past her. It was beautiful inside. Wooded floors and mostly green tones on the walls with shade colored modern furniture. Immediately behind Felicity was the stair case, at the top of he could hear footsteps.

"Sometimes it unfortunately is, Oliver." She said crushed. "At least in some ways." She heard the footsteps too and her eyes widened. "Oliver, I had no way of telling you I'm sorry. I wanted to so badly." The footsteps led down the L- shaped staircase revealing the face of the person supplying them. "Oliver, this is Lawrence."

"Larry, Larry Trainer." The man replied extending his hand. Quickly Oliver put on a good face and a good show.

"Larry, this is Oliver Queen." She smiled at him. His eyes widened as did his smile.

"Of course it is! Your release has been all over the news for months. I'm from Midway City, so my knowledge of you is rather lacking compared to other people in Star City."

"Midway, huh? Why'd you move here?"

"I'm a pilot. I got a job at the new air force base here. I run it."

"I see. Well, Felicity and I used to be very good friends and I wanted to surprise her." He said meeting her gaze once more.

"A surprise indeed. Um, would you want to get dinner with me tonight Oliver? At the Riverhouse? Just the two of us? I would love to catch up." She said with hopeful eyes.

He sighed. "I'd absolutely love that." He told her. Looking back at her one more time he nodded to her husband and left there door. The moment he heard the door shut behind him he grabbed his head so tight he could feel the pulse from his temples with his bare fingers. That's why Digg wanted him to call first! But he could have told Oliver himself! Of all the things he should have been told by Thea this was it! No one had told him! And as much as he wanted to blame everyone else he knew deep down it was no ones fault but his own for not knowing. As a deed to Felicity he didn't ask about her for five years. It turned out she had been living her life and somehow that had shocked him. He would meet her at the restaurant later and the first thing he'd ask about was why she looked so horrified when that man started walking down the stairs.

 **Comment what you think please! Follow and fav if you want. I will be computing this story thanks to your interest.**


	3. Chapter 3

In his one pair of dress pants and the same shirt from that morning, Oliver made his way to Riverside to meet Felicity. The thought of them being alone together again was overwhelming, especially when he thought about what he was going to learn about her life since they last spoke. His heart skipped when he was led to a table where Felicity was already sitting in a velvet blue colored dress. Her hair was indeed shorter, but still long enough to put in a ponytail. It was down tonight. He smiled lightly as the hostess handed him a menu and left them at the table together. Her smile said it all, "What the hell am I doing here?"

Taking that hint, Oliver re positioned himself on the chair and cleared his throat, "You look lovely." He said. She simply blushed, not knowing how to appropriately take the compliment. "I'm happy that we have this chance to talk."

"So am I. I'm sure you have a lot to tell me about the past five years."

"That can wait. I want to hear about your life, Miss. CEO of Palmer Tech, rising top 200 most influential people on the planet, Felicity Smoak.." He paused for a second, his smile suddenly gone," I mean, Mrs. Felicity Trainer." He corrected.

She huffed with a smile, "Yep, you got the Mrs. correct, but my name is still Smoak. I couldn't change it. I made a name for myself I wasn't about to take someone else's."

"Good point." Oliver commented trying to hide his admiration for this woman. The waiter came by quickly dropping off two glasses of Rickshaw red wine and a half empty bottle for the table, seemingly something Felicity had ordered prior to his arrival. He stared heavily at the red liquid for a while, not saying anything. Yet another first for him. Not only was this the first meal he was having at a restaurant in five years, but it was also about to be his first sip of alcohol in that amount of time. Was this a substantial moment? He thought so, and decided to savor it.

He had been tasting wine since he was a kid. The stuff filled his house and parties his mother used to throw usually featured a wide variety. She had always made it a habit for him to try at the most, one sip of her glass every time something interesting arrived at their door. Oliver had not been a stranger to wine, nor had he ever gone this long without a simple taste of it. It was hard to find a labeled wine like Rickshaw in Iron Heights obviously. He looked at Felicity as he took to the first sip. The bubbles of the fix danced on his tongue, the warm inviting flavor shook him as it went down his throat. Truly a feeling worth waiting for.

"Oliver?" Felicity said. Oliver quickly set down his wine glass suddenly realizing he had just spent an entire minute focusing on his stupid wine rather than her. "You drank the whole thing in one go?" She asked. Low and behold when Oliver looked down at his glass there was nothing left.

"I'm sorry. I just realized that since getting out yesterday, I have a lot of firsts I need to catch up on." They looked at each other silently for a while as if what he had said meant something to both of them.

"And speaking of, you wanted to hear what I was up to." She said breaking the stare.

"Yes. Absolutely." He said leaning back into his chair.

"I guess I can start at the beginning. After they locked you away, and declared you too dangerous to have visitors that were not family, the team and I realized that what we were was incomplete without you. Thea was the first to admit it after a heist gone bad left Diggle in a cast for three months because the team was too uncoordinated and angry. She stormed off furious at Laurel, furious at everyone, but mostly with herself. She left and didn't hear from her again for almost a year. That was our cue to end it all. The city became deadlocked with all the police's new policies. We thought they could handle the criminals with the new protocols in place but we were wrong. Digg and I just watched from the box seats as the cities underground slowly rose to power. But what was there to do?

I realized early on that the only way I could help Star City was to become entwined with my work as CEO of Palmer Tech. Through various ties and a contract with Star Cities new airfield, I met Larry. And for the first time since you were put away I met someone who made me smile. He isn't you, Oliver, he doesn't have a tough as nails attitude or your heart, but he is fearless and positive. At the time that was what I needed."

"Up until that last part, that story wasn't about your life, Felicity." Oliver said.

"What do you want to know, Oliver? I'm trying the keep out the parts where I fell madly in love with someone for the wrong reasons and don't know what to do with all my nervous energy half the time. I left out how angry I was with you for not naming me... Or naming Diggle as family members. I left out the quiet nights alone I used to spend in my house while Larry was off doing basically suicide missions, and how usually I'd go to the old lair and sit in my chair trying to recapture some lost memories of the good old days, all because you let them take you away from us!" Her shoulders tensed up, her eyes closed desperately trying to keep and sign of her despair from reaching the surface.

"Hey!" Oliver said loudly. He reached out and grabbed her hand from the table, a gesture she tried to fight him on but he refused to let go. Slowly, Oliver stood with her hand in his and walk over to her side of the table. She reluctantly stood and let him embrace her. The feeling she had when this man, this five year stranger, wrapped his arms around her suddenly sparked old memories of Ivy Town when it was just them and nothing could touch her except him. The one person she wanted to touch. And now there they were, standing in the middle of a restaurant full of people, yet to them no one else was there. Eventually Felicity relaxed allowing herself to stretch her arms as far as they would go around him, burying her face in his chest. Oliver's face stayed stiff, but inside he felt more pain than he had in years. She Was different. "Do you really think that? Do you really think that I let them take me away from you? Felicity, I would never leave you unless I were given no other choice."

* * *

 _He remembered that day well. The summer evening was somehow both humid and cold at the same time and he was chasing someone. They had been no one special, just a robber of a convenience store in the Glades. To him, this was below the power of the Green Arrow. But the thief had stolen over two thousand dollars from a private business and he had been in the area. It was his job to save the city after all. He followed the running man on foot. On the back of the man's jacket was a picture of a crow. The eyes stared at him as he chased. He of course, caught up to the young man quickly. An arrow tripped him up and all of a suddenly man was on the ground staring the Green Arrow dead in the face. His eyes were bright brown, almost orange just like the crow. He couldn't have been any more than twenty-five, he had a ring on his finger and a clean haircut. This man didn't look like the robber type, not even the look of a citizen of the glades. So what was he doing here? Oliver picked up the man by his jacket bringing him to his knees. He snatched the tote bag containing no more than $400. Hardly worth it especially for someone that looked like a middle class citizen._

 _"What is it that you are trying to pull here?" He asked the man snarling and gripping his collarbone. The man squirmed under the pressure of his grip. "Who is the money for?" He yelled._

 _The man choked on his words. He could feel Oliver's breath on his cheek and could hear the flare of his nostrils as he exhaled. "The money's for..."_

 _"For who?" He yelled louder losing patience._

 _"The money's for you... To get your attention."_

 _"And who wants my attention?" He asked now inquisitive._

 _"...Us!" Though Oliver was holding the man's collarbone, practically imposing any motion, the man had managed to reach in his pocket and hold a stun gun to Oliver's ribs. He screamed as the electric pulse jolted through his body. It made him release the man and fall to the pavement. Cars on the street he had thought were empty or abandoned suddenly released one after another of armed police officers and men and women in the same crow covered leather jackets. Lights surrounded the vigilante like the officers in a similar fashion. He coughed off the affects of the stun gun._

 _"Stay on your knees!" He heard, "and put your hands where I can see them. Put your weapons down you are completely surrounded. Oliver's mind dulled. He couldn't believe this was how it was going to end. It was too easy. This was too simple. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. It wasn't supposed to end at all. If he had let this happen in such an easy and stupid way that meant he was getting sloppy. If this was his ending maybe it was the right time, if he could let this happen then the Green Arrow wasn't as good as everyone thought he was. Including himself._

 _He did as he was told but still scanned his surroundings. There was nowhere to go but up, and that was impossible because there was no building close enough to latch onto. There was no man hole to get down into or lamp post to shatter and distract them with. Nothing... there was nothing. The block's silence met the steps of a person walking in high heels. The sea of soldiers was parted by a short black woman with a short, almost shaved head of of hair._

 _"Hello Mr. Arrow. My name is Trish Wexler." She stated while keeping a good distance from him. "As you can see we have put you in quite the tough spot haven't we?" Oliver didn't answer, he kept his head to the ground. "I'm sure you are acquainted with the SCPD by now, but have you met the Crows? A special group of highly trained men and women dedicated to government supervised justice. Without them perhaps you never would have been captured. I am aware that you have some allies that could possibly share your sentence. So I am offering you a deal right here an now; announce to us who you are freely, turn yourself in, and disband your team, and we will let them be free to live the rest of their lives in peace. Otherwise, you will be tazed, your friends will be hunted, and you will all face the strong possibility of the death penalty. It's your choice Mr. Arrow."_

 _This was a position Oliver never thought he would find himself in, but of course there was no question as to which option he was going to take. He bowed his head and with that a flood of soldiers surrounded him. Two brought him to his feet while holding his hands behind his back, another pulled back his hood, once belonging to the mighty and brilliant Shado, and another removed his mask. Trish was right in front of him and he made sure he was looking her dead in the eyes as her soldiers did this to him. When the face of Oliver Jonas Queen was revealed to her, her eyes widened, but she said nothing. She ordered her people to take him into their armored car and shackled him to the floor. Before the doors of the vehicle closed, Oliver made sure he took a moment to breathe in the air of that cold summer evening; because he knew it would be the last time he could breathe the same air as a free man._

 _He didn't know where Felicity was that night, but Digg had been on the other side of the comm link when they had found him. He had listened to the commands of Trish and had listened to the cuffs go around his friends wrists. He couldn't say anything to help Oliver, he was helpless to stop it. Everyone was helpless to stop it. Diggle knew that what Oliver had just done had saved him from a similar sentence in a jail cell right next to Oliver. What he had done was nothing less than heroic._

* * *

Oliver didn't want to tell her about that night if he didn't have to. He wasn't a fan of facing his mistakes by talking about them, it just made him feel stupid. "Felicity, I promise you, there was no way I could have gotten out of it. They caught me red handed, pulled off my mask, and threatened you and everyone else. I made a choice and I do not regret it. And obviously that choice led to your successful life." He smiled at her, lifting up her face so she could see it. But hers wasn't nearly as bright.

"But it isn't the life that I wanted..."

Oliver's entire face lowered. That remark was one he didn't know how to respond to. When he ad heard Felicity was married, and especially to a man like Larry, he assumed she was happy. But the way she looked now told him something in her life was very wrong. Was Larry abusive? Was she doing something to herself that endangered her health?

"What do you mean?" He asked her, making her look at him. They both sat back down at either side of the table, "Please, Felicity, tell me what's happening with you." It took a moment of loving stares and patiently waiting for her to make up her mind until she finally nodded. He was finally going to hear her story but hoped he would't regret it.

* * *

 **I know it has been a long time since I updated this story or any of them for that matter. Senior year was coming to an end and I had to focus on my finals. Now prep for college is starting, but I'm at an in between period where there is PLENTY OF TIME! Next update will address everythinggg Felicity has been up to in the five years after the arrest. Next update will be... eventually.**

 **Comments are much much appreciated, follow and fav if you want, thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Weeks had gone by since Oliver's incarsuration but nobody except for Thea had been allowed visitation rights. Oliver had been dubbed "extremely dangerous", "reckless", and "unpredictable". So much so that he had been put in solitary confinement for the safety of him and the other prisoners in Iron Heights. After the incident with Roy when he had been tried as the Green Arrow they weren't going to make the mistake again. Thea came to the lair after one of her visits on the one month anniversary of him being taken away. She called every one down there that day. She had been bitter, angry, and downright cruel to the rest of team Arrow since her brother was put away, so the fact that she ha called a meeting frightened them. Often times Thea would put on her uniform and angrily patrol the streets without a spotter which was dangerous for her, but even more so for the criminals she found. Speedy had put seven men and one woman in the hospital in 33 days. If Oliver had been there he would have put a stop to her, but as she ket saying to everyone, "Ollie's not here anymore."

She came in that night with a backpack in hand. When she saw everyone was there, she dropped the bag to the floor allowing it to overflow onto the tile. Inside the bag was her hood and mask. Everyone stared at it inquisitively wondering what it meant, but soon enough she opened her mouth. "This... Isn't working." She started and sighed. "The past month has been a disaster on the streets." It took everything Diggle had to not say, "No, you've been a mess on the streets." But he held his tongue. "I talked to Oliver today and he said we need to stop. For our own safety and protection and because of some stupid deal he made with an officer, that we need to throw away our masks. Forever." The room lay quiet for a moment, just long enough for their brains to process the information they just heard. Felicity was the first to step forward and speak.

"What else did Oliver say? Are you sue that's what he said? Did he say it because of the information you gave him. He might be biased towards it, Thea." She challenged.

Thea's teeth gritted in the way that they do, "Yes! And it's not just because of what I told him either. He said that he got us immunity! In exchange for life in prison we would be protected under the circumstance that we give this up. This is the first time we could speak privately which is why I am just hearing about this now! It's over he's not coming back give up already!" She started yelling aggressively specifically towards Felicity. Diggle butted in.

"Hey! Thea that's enough take a walk!" Angrily, Thea stormed out of the basement. In fact it wasn't for another two weeks that they heard from her again. Felicity found that time soothing, for though she would never say it out loud, Thea often got on her nerves because of her short temper. Diggle looked at Felicity briefly before embracing her. They said nothing to eat other that night but they both understood. For the time being, for their own safety and Oliver's life, they would have to remain distant and out of trouble.

* * *

Two months past. Felicity tried again and again to schedule a visit with Oliver but for some reason her requests never made it through. She wanted to do things by the book and took all she had not to hack into their servers to get her on the list. The only thing was, she wasn't family "technically", which meant even if she did get her in the system they would recognize her as a non family member and personally deny her. She couldn't hack into real life people. Another month passed. She heard nothing and had to learn to let go. It broke her heart. She never got a chance to say goodbye to him, never got to say I love you or I forgive you or I'm sorry. She would never be able to hug him or comfort him, or even wish him well. It was like he was gone.

With the court date looming ever closer, Felicity felt bleak. She had no one but a few friends from work and work itself. Noticing her change, Curtis decided to take her out for some drinks for the night. Felicity agreed only because she had nothing better to do and because Curtis told her that he and his boyfriend were having some issues and he needed to get out didn't go to bars much. She had in college but now not as much because of her busy schedule and "night job". Looking back three months later she couldn't believe she was still functioning after two consistent years of four hours of sleep a night. In the past months she had had a solid 9 hours of sleep every night despite all the work she had to do for Palmer Tech. Curtis sat her at the bar and put a drink in her hand. The sound of loud music trumpeted in her ears and the smell of smoke flowed throughout the room. Curtis seemed to be used to such a place, he was laughing and swinging and talking to the other people in the room as if he came there often. Felicity wasn't as confident though. She wasn't sure if Curtis was trying to set her up on a date or just get her out into the town but whatever it was it was a big step for her. She was still recently an ex-fiance by her own choice. It had been years since she had to start a new relationship. They were hard and it wasn't that she wasn't ready to start a new relationship, it was that she wasn't sure how to. She of course was going to be a good sport though so she sat at the bar and coincidentally, Curtis had made himself scarce. She was just a blonde CEO at a bar. It felt like a whole different world than what she was used to. She was used to arrows being flung by her head, people trying to hack the government, and always watching her back. It was a lonely world and she was without a partner.

She sat at the bar chatting with the bartender for a few minutes. It was interesting to talk to someone in his line of work again. A bartender is the apitome of a people person. His job was to engage and share stories and be an open book. That's the kind of person Felicity rarely ever got to talk to anymore because her life had been so secretive for so many years. Later she started talking to other women at the bar, a group of young ladies celebrating a birthday and they humored her for a while. A few guys came into the bar too. A few caught her eye but she didn't feel up to confronting them. There were so many people here from all different walks of life; she found it interesting enough to just watch them and try too figure out where they were from and who they were. She was so busy looking at a couple sit down to on of the booths that she didn't notice a man sit next to her until she almost ran into him with her legs on the spinning chair.

"I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did I hit you hard? sorry, that sounds a little inappropriate, not that I was trying to be or thinking it." She rammed as she often did.

"Not to worry I'm used to close spaces in my line of work." He responded gently with humor. It wasn't until then that Felicity actually looked at the man who was next to her. His gaze met hers after she was finished examining his uniform; an airfare uniform. He was young, early thirties with sandy colored hair. Through his uniform she could tell that he was thin but built at the same time which was normal for most air force guys. He propped one leg up onto the rod of the stool and the other stayed on the ground. He seemed interested in Felicity and she couldn't help but blush. "I'm Larry Trainer." He said extending his hand. She quickly took it.

"And what exactly do you do Mr. Trainer?" She asked expecting to know the answer.

"Test pilot" He said coughing through his first sip of whiskey. She smiled. That was different and so was he. His smile issued a sign o confidence but not cockiness, the way he spoke told her that he was smart, and the way that he acted told her he was kind. "I'm sorry, I feel like I've seen you before. Have we already met?"

"Trust me I'd remember if we had." She growled at herself under her breath for that comment.

"Well then, what's your name?"

"Felicity." She replied now taking a sip of her beverage.

"As in, Felicity Smoak? God, no wonder I've seen you before. Your company just bought Ferris Air and relocated it here. You're the reason I'm here!" he told her. Felicity gulped, the tone in his voice was unclear, she couldn't tell what he meant. Was he angry or was he thrilled?

"That's me all right. I'm sorry?" She apologized.

"Are you kidding? Ferris Air was shut down months ago, your company revamped the project I was working on Smith my friend before he disappeared. Flying is my life I was without a job till you bought it back." He seemed thrilled. All of a sudden he had scooted closer fascinated with the young CEO. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure but I've already got one." She explained not even thinking. Of course she wanted him to buy her a drink, but of course her brain decided to say the first thing she was thinking. Larry looked at her half empty glass of clear greenish liquid. In one quick move he grabbed her glass and chugged it then slamming the now empty glass on the table. "There.." He said and suddenly started holding his head down and laughing, "now can i buy you a drink?" Felicity started laughing with him. What a move indeed. "God that was stronger than I expected!" He mustered out, now nearly crying he was laughing so hard.

"Yes!" Felicity laughed. She felt utterly smitten. This man was so outgoing and open. He dared to do things most men would fear to do on a first encounter. "Please I'd love another seeing as my last one disappeared."

* * *

Time started moving quicker the more time Felicity spent with Larry. She would it funny that such an intense good looking guy like himself would go by the name Larry, and not by Lawrence or his middle name. Turned out it wasn't to his liking either, but it was what his sister used to call him and it stuck, especially since he hadn't seen or heard from her in over ten years. On one of their outings together, Felicity asked why it might be that she had been silent for so long, and Larry explained to her that his sister suffered from schizophrenia. Growing up the beautiful girl would go missing for days at a time an one day a week before her sophomore year of college was supposed to begin she vanished. Two years after Larry received a letter from her telling of how she lived in Costa Rica, but his attempts to find her were futile. It was something he said he almost never told anyone, so Felicity felt obliged to tell him a secret. She told him of how she had worked with Oliver queen closely but never knew he was the Green Arrow. The last part was a lie, but the majority of her story she told was fact.

She didn't know why she felt so safe telling him things. She didn't know why she started spending so much time with a person she barely knew, and eventually, she didn't know why she was sleeping with him. She found him utterly fascinating. He was so open with her, like he didn't have any secrets. The thing was, she was so used to Oliver. They couldn't be any more different if they tried besides their state of fitness and hair color. Where Larry was an open book, Oliver was a secluded lier. And sadly, she felt like she liked that more. The secrets, the trauma, the scars, the experiences, they were what made Oliver attractive to her half the time. The months went on, Felicity found herself spending more time in Larry's one bedroom apartment than her loft suit. She felt that he loved her, and god help her she wanted to feel the same, but something was missing. There was amazing sex, there were no secrets like she had always wanted with Oliver, there was common interest and thrill, but it wasn't the same.

He crashed her into a wall, beginning to remove her clothes as if she had no say in it. It felt rushed this time. "Larry, relax." She said breathing heavily with excitement for what was about to come. He didn't listen. It seemed like he was screwing her in a hurry. Her bed was right there but he kept her standing up. Slowly, she began to taunt at the idea of removing her shirt, but he wasn't having it, he took off his own shirt with great speed and bought her over to the bed they had shared many times. Her hands slid lower as he kissed her from her neck, to her breasts, to her stomach, to her sides. As he began to go down she grabbed his face and made him look her in the eyes, "look, I love love this enthusiasm but what is going on? It's like you have somewhere to be?"

"It's because i do." his hands reached down for her sides, her back arched as he kissed around her neck and up to her lips.

"For work in an hour. It's just any other day." She said reassuringly.

"I'd think our almighty CEO would read her own companies flight plan. I'm testing one of the sonic jets you're developing. And I mean TEST. As in it's never been flown before. They don't know what's going to happen. I may get fucked to high heavens for all I know, which is why I'm going to fuck you to high-"

"Stop! So you're saying you think you're going to die today?' She said immediately stopping his lip trail. She sat up looking him dead in the eyes.

"I do this all the time. My job is to test experimental planes and gets and things of that nature. I'm used to it. No big deal."

"It is a big deal, if it weren't we wouldn't be doing this right now to calm your nerves."

"I wouldn't say that." He laughed looking down at her.

"Not funny." She said seriously. Seeing it in her eyes Larry scooted closer and held her bare shoulders.

"In my line of work I never know what tomorrow brings, that's why I live every day to the fullest. No secrets, no regrets. Because if I ever do die I don't want people to wonder." he said nothing after this and as for Felicity, there was nothing in her heart to say. He pulled her forward slowly this time, wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her softly. It was her that finally initiated things again. Her tongue penetrated past his lips. The kisses grew harder among other things, and eventually they became entangled in each other.

Felicity was still tuck on the fact that his new person in her life was potentially going to die that day. He did come back though, she was relieved when he did. But the same thing happened again and again. Sometimes he'd be gone for days at a time with no word. Sometimes he'd even be sent away overseas to fly missions runs in international waters. All of these scared Felicity, not because she loved him, but because she was invested in him.

They were together for a year and a half when a man bent down to her for the second time, and just like the first time Felicity said yes. She didn't know why. When she looked into his eyes and listened to the way he talked to her, and saw the way he carried himself when he was around her, she saw love. She knew he loved her. But why? She didn't love him. She knew what love felt like and perhaps at a time this is what felt like love to her, but not after Oliver. Either he had ruined men for her, or was too high a standard to married him anyway because although her feelings for Larry weren't as intense as hers were once for Oliver, she did care for him deeply and adored the man. They got a house together, the same one Oliver visited when he was set free. It was a big house, plenty of room for a dog or even a family, but she couldn't bring a child into a relationship like hers. She felt they would know. And besides, she had everything she ever wanted. She had the big house, she had the job of a lifetime, she had the power, the friends, the wonderful attractive husband. Everything she had worked for she had. But it didn't make her happy. After a while Larry began noticing her troubles and sweetly, he tried to make it better. But there was nothing he could do. Her feelings for him were that of what she felt towards mashed potatoes: filling but bland if there isn't anything to spice it up.

* * *

Now Felicity, a married and successful woman was looking into the eyes of Oliver Queen. She had loved him once. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't thinking about kissing him right there on the spot, the very spot. She glanced down at her wedding ring for a moment and then back at Oliver. What was wrong with her?

She told him a bit more about her life as he scoffed down a few more bourbons. The night had gone by so quickly. As he walked her to her car he was telling her something, but she couldn't hear him past the sound of her heart beat. She just watched his mouth move; his jaw, his beautiful face, his lips. She hadn't listened to a word he'd said the majority of the night, she was too busy thinking back. So much so that she didn't even notice when they got to her car.

"Oh! Thanks." She said suddenly seeing her own car.

"No, thank you for paying." Oliver joked. Felicity felt his distance from her. "I hope I'll see you again soon." he remarked. There was a pause, slowly he held out his hands to embrace her. The hug felt cold and sad, like he was purposefully withholding emotion from it. She felt his grip on her loosen but she didn't let go.

"Oliver.." She whispered. She let go slightly and looked up to him. His eyes met hers only for a moment because the next she had played her lips on top of his. Oliver eyes widened! At first he thought it was a kiss you would give to your friend or ex-husband out of curtesy, but it grew longer.. and longer. He couldn't help but place his hands on her side as she moved her hands over his face. A tear went down Felicity's cheek. For the first time in 5 years, she felt love for someone. After a minute she finally moved away. "Oliver?" She asked.

"Yeah?" He responded out of breath and incredibly confused.

"Come with me."

* * *

 **I started college! I go to a university in Virginia and I am loving it. I have had little time to write this summer because of work and friends and yada yada yada. Sorry I've taken so long. Thanks for reading. Comment! Follow and fav if you want I didn't really do any revisions or spell check on this because I'm not in the mood to read my own writing right now.**

 **If you can tell me who Larry Trainer is in the DC universe without looking it up I will give you spoilers on the next two** **chapters or a gold star whatever you want. Seriously if you know who he is than I love you.**


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